The present disclosure relates to memory systems, and more particularly, to memory systems including nonvolatile memory devices and methods of operating the same.
Portable electronic devices such as digital cameras, MP3 players, cellular phone, PDAs and the like are widely used by consumers. Semiconductor memory devices are used to store data in portable electronic devices. Semiconductor memory devices include volatile memories, such as DRAMs, SRAMs and the like, and nonvolatile memories, such as EEPROMs, FRAMs, PRAMs, MRAMs, flash memories and the like. A volatile memory loses stored data when not powered, while a nonvolatile memory retains stored data even when not powered.
Flash memory is widely used in portable electronic devices. This is because a flash memory is a nonvolatile memory device having characteristics of low power and high integration. However, in order to read data stored in a flash memory, a physical voltage is applied to a flash memory cell. Thus, in order to read data stored in a flash memory, a delay is encountered equal to a time needed to apply a voltage to a flash memory cell and a time needed to transfer data stored in the flash memory cell to a page buffer.